A Second Run through Japan

 

In a few short days I’m off for my 2^nd trip to Japan in 3 years (I went in Thanksgiving break 2 years ago too). Beyond just the practical aspect of going to the country whose language I’ve been studying for the last 2+ years, my ulterior motivation is also to cover some of the bases I missed the first time around- Japan has so much to offer in the way of lifestyle, including sumo wrestling, cool toilets, geisha culture, nerd culture, tea, cuisine, I feel like I rushed through Japan on the JR Pass last time (went throughout the country including Hiroshima, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Tokyo) that I didn’t have time to fully discover a lot of the intimate aspects of Japan. I imagine the hustle and bustle of “Go Go Go I need to see everything and I don’t have much time to do it!” will be replaced by a “Let’s understand and savor this as much as possible” sentiment that I hope will be even more fulfilling than soaking in new stimulus. There’s also the familiarity factor of knowing how to get around through transportation, what to expect living in a hostel, and the confidence of knowing that it’s been done before.

 

The same concepts apply for watching TV series or movies. The first time watching a series like The Wire is mostly dedicated to absorbing as much as possible, and then picking up the pieces later. Especially for a show like The Wire where various seemingly unconnected events are happening at different times in vastly different worlds, it can be mindnumbing to try to fit everything together. The 2^nd time,  with full knowledge of the ending and how the story gets there, it’s time to pick up nuances in the story, like not marveling solely at the waterfall but at little crevices and rocks within the falls that make up its entire body. Specifically with the Wire, there are a LOT of "OOO so that's what happened" moments and "O yea I remember that that was actually pretty important to the whole plot" and "man this show is one of the best ever."

 

The same concept applies for a second date. On the first date, upon getting over the nervousness of actually meeting the person and the opening scuffle of the resume questions (How are you doing? What do you do? What’s your name?) there’s a lot that’s missed including more personal questions like “What kind of person are you looking for?” There’s that familiarity feeling that goes deeper than a first date, and the transition from “I want to impress this person/ give off a good vibe/ make it to a second date” to “do I actually want to be in a relationship with this person/ keep dating/ Is this person the right fit for me?” The second date is definitely much more telling, much more determinative (I’ve been eliminated a couple times at these stages) but a lot less awkward- there’s less risk of bungling up due to unfamiliarity, just bungling up due to lack of fit.

Regardless of what arena you’re in, I find that getting a second run through of something is usually preferable over just scratching everything completely. I have a short attention span and get bored of something like the 6^th, 5^th, 4^th, or even 3^rd time I do something, but usually the 2^nd time produces pretty good results and is still at the “very efficient” level of the law of diminishing returns curve.

 

Fantasize on,

 

Robert Yan